BEACH PARTY IN SUNNY PORTUGAL

Once a small fish-canning village and now a popular seaside town, Espinho, just 20km south of Oporto, bursts into life from Aug 24-28 when the men contest the Portugal Open of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.

Its long stretch of golden sandy beach attracts thousands of holidaymakers for seaside holidays, great fish restaurants and great weather, but the Portugal Open has become an attractive additional feature in the town’s event calendar and last year thousands of spectators packed the stadium to watch the world’s elite battle it out for the title.

The Brazilian duo Ricardo-Loila won the gold medal at the 2001 tournament, played on the beautiful Praia da Baia in Espinho, and bathed in fabulous Portuguese sunshine. They knocked out the Swiss brothers Paul and Martin Laciga 2-1 in the final.

After the match, Loiola said: "We are very happy with this victory here in Portugal, this gave strength to us. We hope to win lots of tournaments in the future".  In fact, it was a boost to the pair who then went on to Austria for the World Championship where they came away with the silver medal. They finished the season fourth on the rankings.

Ricardo was named as "Player of the Tournament".

Last year, the women also made a stop at Esphino, but while the men are playing here in 2002, the women are in Rhodes, Greece.